Meetings and partings were both important cycles of life.
Two days had passed and it was now time for Est and his entourage to return to the capital of the Hellan Kingdom. William, James, and Ella stood beside their carriage at the Northern Gate of Lont.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Est said with a sad smile. "I wish I could stay longer, but I have important matters to attend to at the capital."
"Don't be sad," William replied as he held Est's hand. "We're not parting forever. You can send me letters when you get back to the capital. Isn't that why grandpa prepared a messenger hawk for you? Even if it's the capital, the hawk will always find its way back to Lont."
Est nodded his head and faced the Lord of Lont, James, "Thank you for the messenger Hawk, Lord Ainsworth. If I get the opportunity, I will return to visit Lont."
"We will be waiting," James chuckled as he patted Est's shoulder. "You and your entourage are always welcome here in Lont."
"Isaac, take care of Est," William said as he shook Isaac's hand.
"It is my duty to serve the Young Master," Isaac replied. "If you have time, visit us in the capital."
William nodded his head and shook hands with Herman and Nana. He completely ignored Ian, which made the latter look at him in disdain.
Seeing that William was hell bent on ignoring him, Ian decided to take a step back and compliment him. "You are a good cook, the dishes you made were the most delicious foods that I tasted in my life. If you need to find a job, just visit the Young Master's residence in the capital. You will be paid generously to be our chief cook."
"Me? A chief cook? Sorry, but I only want to cook for beautiful girls," William raised his chin arrogantly. "If you were a beautiful girl then I might have considered it. However, since you're not then you can only eat my cooking in your dreams."
"... So, if I was a girl, you would cook for me?" Ian asked.
"IF you were a Beautiful Girl then I will cook for you." William nodded his head. "Why? You plan to change your gender?"
William crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Ian from head to toe. "Well, since you're not half bad looking, maybe you can really become a beauty if you turned into a girl. However, since that's not happening then don't even think about mooching off my cooking."
"How about me?" Est inquired. "Will you cook for me if I asked?"
"Of course," William replied in a heartbeat. "You're my friend, so it's only normal for me to let you have a taste. As for this… snot-nosed pansy, he can just go ahead and suck an egg."
"Who are you calling snot-nosed pansy?!" Ian lunged at William.
The two boys wrestled on the ground until their clothes were covered in dirt. Everyone pretended that they didn't know them and moved near the carriage.
"Hmp! Without your magic, you're no match for me!" Ian said in a triumphant manner as he sat on William's back.
"Just you wait until my power returns to me, I will let you know your place!" William struggled to stand, but Ian had pinned him securely on the ground.
Est lightly cleared his throat and Ian released William from his hold. The snot-nosed pansy returned to Est's side with a smug expression as he looked at the pitiful shepherd who was busy dusting his clothes.
"See you later, William," Est waved his hand as he entered the carriage.
"Yes, see you later." William smiled as he waved back.
Nana, Isaac, and Ian boarded the carriage. Herman, on the other hand, gave William and Est a respectful bow before sitting in the coachman's seat.
"Let's meet again at the capital, Little Will." Herman winked at him as he urged the horses to move forward.
"Mama Ella."
"Meeeeeeh!"
William mounted Ella's back and the two ran after the carriage. James watched all of this with a satisfied expression as he placed his hand behind his back.
"Don't forget about me, okay?" Est pleaded as he looked at William from the carriage window.
"How can I forget you?" William grinned. "You still owe me for saving your life. You better prepare the payment for the next time we see each other."
Est smiled and nodded his head.
William and Ella followed the carriage until they reached the border of Lont. with a final wave of his hand, he bid his newfound friends goodbye as they journeyed back to the capital of the Hellan Kingdom.
-----
After dinner, William went to see his Master and told her everything that happened during his journey to the Holy Temple. Although Celine had already heard the simplified version of the story, she wanted to know the full details of the battle.
"The difficulty of the quest was truly hard," Celine had to admit that William had a close call when he fought against the Terrorhand. Even if Celine swapped places with William, the chances of victory were slim.
The Cyclops only had one weakness and that was Holy Magic. Even if Celine used her ultimate move, Finger of Death, the chances of killing the Cyclops was almost non-existent. It was truly a miracle that two children with different powers, One Holy, and one Dark, were in the right place at the right time.
If either one of them were not present inside the Trial of Courage then it would have been a suicide mission instead of a trial.
"What are your plans now?" Celine asked. She wanted to know how her disciple would act in this time now that he was at his weakest state.
"The battle against Kingsley taught me that I can't always rely on magic to fight against strong opponents," William answered. "I need to build my foundation and learn from scratch."
Celine was satisfied with William's answer, so she decided to end their meeting and allow William to think about which method he wanted to use in order to acquire martial techniques on which to build his foundation.
She could tell that William already had a plan in mind, so it would only be a bother if she tried to spoon feed him at this point in time.
Celine was right. William already had a plan in mind and he immediately put it into action.
After saying goodbye to his Master, William headed to the goat pen that was just outside his Master's Manor. Chronos, Aslan, and the rest of the goats were already waiting for him. They had already properly rested and were looking forward to their dungeon expedition.
"System, change my Subclass to Disciple of Thunder," William ordered.
< Subclass has been successfully changed. Should I also pool all experience points to this Job Class? >
"Yes."
< Experience settings have been updated. >
"Thank you." After thanking the system, William looked at his herd with a smile on his face. "Are all of you ready?"
""Meeeeeeeh!""
"Good." William nodded his head and activated the ring on his finger. "Gate Open!"
A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.
"Um?" William looked at his surroundings in surprise. "I think I'm getting rusty. Okay, this time is the real deal. Gate Open!"
William raised his hand as he tried to activate the Ring of Conquest. However, the ring remained dormant.
"System! What is going on?" William asked anxiously. "Why is the ring not working? Did it get damaged during the battle against the Cyclops?"
< Host, please, wait a minute as I troubleshoot the problem.>
< Identifying the root of the problem… >
< Finding the root problem successful! >
William looked at the notifications with an anxious expression. He hoped that the system would find the problem and offer him a solution on how to fix it.
< To answer the Host's question, there is no problem with the Ring of Conquest. It was undamaged during the fight against the Cyclops. >
"No problem? Then how come I can't activate it?" William asked.
< Host, did you forget? You are unable to use your Mana. It is disabled right now. The Ring of Conquest can only be activated by using magic power. Since the host is unable to use even a drop of magic, the ring will not be able to take you to the Goblin Crypt."
William swayed on his feet. He felt like fainting when he heard the System's report. If not for Ella supporting his body, he might have already collapsed on the ground due to the bad news he had just received.
The Goblin Crypt was his main source of experience points. If he couldn't enter the dungeon then what was he supposed to do to level up his Job Classes?
